Bengals' kicker frustrated

Coach hopeful that Nugent will play on Friday

Aug. 18, 2010

Written by

Bengals kicker Mike Nugent admits that he has been frustrated by the injury and has tried to remain patient through it. / The Enquirer/Jeff Swinger

More

ADVERTISEMENT

No one needs to tell Mike Nugent that time is running short in his bid to win the Bengals placekicking job.

Through two preseason games, Nugent is still fighting the effects of a groin injury that sidelined him for over a week in training camp. After missing the Hall of Fame Game, Nugent had three kickoffs and two extra points during the first half of last Sunday’s win over Denver.

The groin though started to bother him during the game and he was held out during the second half. With the exception of a quad injury two years ago with the Jets, the Centerville native and former Ohio State standout has been healthy throughout his career.

Nugent admits that he has been frustrated by the injury and has tried to remain patient through it. That’s easier said than done though since he’s in competition with Dave Rayner.

“If you’re someone who has been kicking on a team for 10 years then you know you’re going to be the guy. You can chill out and be ready for the season,” said Nugent, knowing full well that isn’t the case here. “Obviously whoever kicks better is going to be the guy. You don’t want to put bad things on film or kick poorly.”

Nugent said it wasn’t one kick that reaggravated the groin injury but a combination of kicks during pregame warm-ups and the game. Special teams coach Darrin Simmons said he is hopeful that Nugent will play on Friday.

Against the Broncos, Nugent’s three kickoffs were just shy of the end zone (average was the 3). By comparison, five of Rayner’s seven kickoffs this preseason have reached the end zone and was 4 of 5 on field goals against Denver.

SPEAKING OF KICKERS: Former Bengal Shayne Graham, who is competing for the kicking job in Baltimore, admitted to ESPN.com’s James Walker that it would be fun if the Week 2 matchup at Paul Brown Stadium came down to a last-second kick.

“I can only imagine what the reaction will be when I first play there in Cincinnati, so it will be fun,” Graham said. “It’s always fun to go somewhere when you don’t know what the reaction is going to be. I can have my predictions that they’ll probably be some boo birds out. But that’s what makes it fun. It’s nice to be in that kind of driver’s chair and knowing you still have control over things.”

MENTORING LESSONS: Offensive tackle Andre Smith said the two weeks of work during training camp with coaching intern Dermontti Dawson have paid dividends.

Prior to practices at Georgetown, Dawson would work with Smith on some individual line drills to see how his injured left foot would respond. Dawson even caught Smith by surprise on a couple pass rush moves.

“He’s still a player at heart,” said Smith of Dawson. “He’s been around a lot of great guys. We’ve talked about football, life and things to be successful. He told me I can’t worry about stuff off the field and to continue to put your best foot forward.”

During his press conference, coach Marvin Lewis said that Smith’s status for Friday remains undetermined but that he has seen progress in technique in one practice.

“We (Lewis and offensive line coach Paul Alexander) thought there was a marked improvement with some of the things they were working with him to get better at, and I saw a good transition with that,” Lewis said.

LINE DEPTH: With the release of Jonathan Luigs on Tuesday, Collins and Mitchell unlikely to play on Friday and Cook still trying to come back from his ankle injury, that leaves the offensive line with only 10 healthy guys.

Smith and Gabriel Manns are the lone backups at tackle, but guard Isaac Sowells has some versatility at that position. Reggie Stephens moves up to second string at center but Evan Mathis has taken snaps there this week.

Said Stephens of his debut: “I still have a lot of work to do.”

USA FOOTBALL MONTH: The Bengals will recognize USA Football Month by hosting five Cincinnati-area youth leagues – thetext ignoredSouthwest Ohio Athletic Association (Harrison), Cross County Conference Youth Football (Bradford), Kingdom Football (Dayton), Eager Beaver Football Club (Xenia), and Anderson Youth Football (Cincinnati).

USA Football is the official youth development partner of the Bengals and the NFL.